APS
2026 APS Annual Convention · 2026
Naming Whiteness across Contexts: Family, School, and Peer Influences
- Piljoo Kang
Seattle Pacific University - Miandria Erickson
Seattle Pacific University
Abstract
Drawing on interviews with 60 White emerging adults in the U.S. Southeast and Northwest, this study examines how family, school, and peer contexts influence White identity. Across regions, families and schools seldom addressed race or privilege; instead, spiritual reframing, peer relationships, and curiosity shaped when and how Whiteness was named.